How to Cook a Ham

So your children have invited their friends over for dinner and you don’t know what to cook? Well, cooking a ham is something that will really make you happy and also your guests will be delighted to get something so special to eat. You can learn the intricacies of how to cook a ham quite easily. There are many flavorings you can use to spice up the taste. Depending on how you would like to present the ham, you can also garnish it with great imagination. And since it is not very difficult to cook a ham, you can do so if only you can spare the time at home.

Ingredients:

1 whole smoked ham on the bone
How to Cook a Ham1 How to Cook a Ham Brown sugar
French mustard
1 tbsp pepper corns
Cloves
3-4 bay leaves
Roasting pan
Large pot
Sharp knife

Procedure:

Take a large bowl and place the ham inside it so that it is completely immersed. Allow it to remain throughout the night so that it drains away all the saltiness in the ham. You can now cook the ham and it will have a normal taste.
Now it is the turn of putting the ham in fresh water and setting it on high heat. Maker sure that the ham is covered with water. You can add the pepper corns and bay leaves now to the water to allow the flavor to seep through the ham. Keep the water boiling for some time.
When the water starts boiling, simmer the heat and continue the process of cooking the ham. Every pound of ham will require about 20 minutes of boiling. According to the quantity of ham you have bought, you can calculate the amount of time you should set for boiling.
After the boiling is over, you can take the ham out and peel off the skin from the ham. Don’t cut away the fat layer as it imparts taste to the ham. You need to score the fat layer now with a sharp knife. Make a criss-cross pattern so that the ham looks like it has been decorated with diamond shapes in the cross section.
Before putting the ham in the oven, you need to add some flavor to it. There are several things you can use for this. Mustard is the first thing that you can use so cover the entire surface with French mustard.
Next in line is the brown sugar. Apply a layer of brown sugar over the mustard. Be liberal while coating the ham.
To add to the taste and also to enhance the look, you can decorate with cloves. Inserting a clove in every diamond shape will really make the ham look mouth watering.
Now you can put the ham in the oven. Remember that the oven should be preheated to 325 degrees F first before you put the ham in. It will take about 35 minutes for the cooking to be over.
After the cooking is over, you can remove from oven and allow it to cool. It will take about 10-15 minutes to cool completely.
You can now carve the ham and serve.

The ham is sure to taste good and it will make your kids happy too. Though it requires some effort from you, but it is worth it when you see the smile and the pride on your children’s faces.